By William Mackay: David Haye’s WBA heavyweight title may not be on the line for Saturday’s clash with IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko due to Haye and his camp not being happy with the choice of the referee working the fight. According to fight news, referee Genaro Rodriguez is slated to work Saturday’s fight.

Haye has a problem with Rodriguez being the referee, as he previously worked four of Wladimir’s fights in the past, not all of them wins though. The World Boxing Association is threatening not to sanction the Klitschko-Haye fight, according to the Haye camp. Without Haye’s WBA title on the line, it’s kind of a pointless fight for Wladimir because that was his main reason for fighting Haye in the first place. Haye’s camp reportedly prefer that referee Luis Pabon work the fight instead of Rodriguez.

For those who don’t remember Pabon, he was the referee for Haye’s fight against Audley Harrison last November. Pabon did a good job except that Haye landed some rabbit punches and held and hit when he was in the process of taking Harrison out in the 3rd round. Pabon didn’t penalize or disqualify Haye for the rabbit shots or the holding and hitting. It’s hard to imagine the Klitschko camp agreeing to Pabon as the referee. They may need to find a third alternative. It would be sad if Wladimir were to beat Haye and not get his title in the process. It wouldn’t stop Wladimir from picking up the WBA title the easy way after Haye retires in October, but it would be much better to get the title on Saturday. The Klitschkos currently have three of the four heavyweight titles in their possession.